Automatic dispensing apparatus for dispensing towels, wiping cloths and like articles



Aug. 25, 1959 E. BLACK ,1

- AUTOMATIC DISPENSING APPARATUS FOR DISPENSING TOWELS, WIPING CLOTHSAND LIKE ARTICLES Filed May 20, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR ISADOREE. ACK

BY I ATTORNEY.

2,901,145 AUTOMATIC DISPENSING APPARATUS FOR DISPENSING Aug. 25, 1959 I.E. BLACK TOWELS, vWIPING CLOTHS AND LIKE ARTICLES Flled May 20, 19573.Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 6.

m VENTOR ISADOREE. BLACK BY ATTRNEY.

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E. BLACK 2,901,145 MATIC DISPENS APPARATUS FOR DISPENSING OWELS, WIPINGo'ms AND LIKE ARTICLES 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 m m U T w 9 1 O 2 5 V. 2 m d w,A F

INVENTOR ISADORE E. BLACK BY Ja -Q ATT RNEY.

United States Patent AUTOMATIC DISPENSING APPARATUS FOR DIS- PENSINGTOWELS, WIPING CLOTHS AND LIKE ARTICLES Isadore E. Black, Cleburne, Tex.

Application May 20, 1957, Serial No. 660,172

3 Claims. (Cl. 221-34) This invention relates to automatic dispensingapparatus for dispensing towels, wiping cloths and like articles.

In large manufacturing plants and in such places as motor vehicleservice stations, garages and repair shops, the problem of supplyingwiping cloths and then recovering the same following use is a seriousone. It is a general practice in many of these plants and otherestablishments to obtain wiping cloths on a rental basis. These clothsare supplied by a rental agency having laundering facilities and thepractice is for such agency to deliver a given quantity of clean wipingcloths to a given plant and at the same time to pick up a like quantityof soiled wiping cloths. Naturally, the plant is responsible for thereturn of all delivered cloths.

Many employees are rather careless with wiping cloths and View them asdisposable rags. Many wiping cloths are thus discarded when soiled,causing considerable loss and expense to the plant responsible for them.

In addition to the foregoing problem, there is the further problem ofdispensing or issuing such wiping cloths to employees and eifectingtheir return when soiled. In a plant employing thousands of Workers,wherein each worker may require one or more fresh wiping cloths everyday, the problem of storing fresh wiping cloths and handing them out andreclaiming and collecting soiled wiping cloths becomes very seriousindeed. While it may take brief seconds to hand out a single fresh clothto a single employee and to receive back from him a single soiled cloth,when this process is multiplied by the number of employees in suchplants and by the number of times each employee would require suchservice during the course of his working day, the process becomes asomewhat involved and time-consuming procedure.

The object of this invention is the provision of mechanical means forstoring a plurality of clean wiping cloths, receiving and collecting aplurality of soiled wiping cloths, and automatically dispensing apredetermined number of clean wiping cloths upon receipt of apredetermined number of soiled wiping cloths. For example, in one formof this invention, the dispensing apparatus is actuated when five soiledwiping cloths are deposited into the machine one at a time, and fiveclean towels are thereupon dispensed to take the place of the soiledones. This arrangement may be varied at will and the apparatus may beset to dispense a single clean wiping cloth or towel each and every timea single soiled cloth or towel is deposited therein. Other arrangementsare of course possible.

Another object of this invention is the provision of apparatus as abovedescribed wherein a selective mechanism is provided to select and acceptonly certain wiping cloths and to reject others. Only the acceptedcloths would actuate the dispensing mechanism.

Specifically, the selective mechanism is a radio-sensitive device whichdistinguishes between wiping cloths which possess radioactivity andthose which do not. It is proposed that the wiping cloths of a plant ortowel service establishment would have embodied in them a slight traceof a radioactive material such as may be approved for this use by theAtomic Energy Commission or other appropriate governmental agency. Athread rendered radio-active by conventional means could be sewn orwoven into these wiping cloths to provide the necessary radioactivity.The selective mechanism includes a Geiger counter which, of course, issensitive to radioactivity. Only when said Geiger counter is actuated isthe dispensing mechanism actuated and when a wiping cloth which is notradioactive is deposited into the machine, the Geiger counter willremain unaffected and the dispensing apparatus will not function.Instead, said wiping cloth will be rejected by the machine. The machinewhich is herein claimed has a number of important features which enableit to perform its several functions in satisfactory manner. For example,it is provided a series of platforms which are each adapted to support aplurality of clean wiping cloths so that in a single machine of thisnature there may be as many as four or more piles or stacks of cleanwiping cloths stored in readiness for dispensing. Another importantfeature is the pick-up mechanism which travels from one stack to anotherstripping only the topmost wiping cloth from each stack and dispensingthe same before the next stack is reached. In this arrangement, thepick-up mechanism travels to the wiping cloths but it is obvious thatthe wiping cloths may be made to travel to the pick-up mechanism withinthe broad principles of this invention.

Another important feature is the fact that the entire pick-up mechanismmay be elevated to an inoperative position in order to replenish thestock of clean wiping cloths on the several supporting platforms andsaid pickup mechanism may then be placed upon said wiping cloths todispense them as described, said pick-up mechanism descendingautomatically as the several stacks of wiping cloths are reduced inheight by the reduction in the number of wiping cloths in said stacks.Still another feature of importance herein is the means of evenlydispersing the soiled cloths in a collecting bin and compressing them toenable the bin to receive as many soiled cloths as possible. Thisdispersing and compressing means is a series of blades which are mountedwithin the collecting bin and move with the pick-up mechanism forengagement with the soiled wiping cloths which are deposited in saidbin. These blades revolve about a vertical axis and when they engage thesoiled cloths, they disperse and distribute the cloths horizontallywhile packing them down vertically.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a machine made in accordance with thisinvention, the showing being mainly of a cabinet or enclosure for theworking parts of the machine.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged horizontal section on the line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary side view of the pick-up mechanism andespecially of the track on which said mechanism travels from one stackof wiping cloths to another.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view looking in the direction of arrows 4, 4 inFig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view looking in the direction of arrows 5, 5 ofFig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a vertical section through the entire machine taken on theline 66 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary view, partly in section, showing thecentral shaft about which the pick-up mechanism revolves in travelingfrom stack to stack.

Fig. 8 is a transverse section on the line 88 of Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a plan view of the pick-up mechanism, some of the partsthereof being shown broken away.

Fig. 10 is a side view of said pick-up mechanism.

Fig. 11 is an enlarged fragmentary view looking in the direction ofarrows 11, 11 of Fig. 10.

Fig. 12 is an end view of the pick-up mechanism, showing the pick-up orstripper needle particularly.

Fig. 16 is asectional View through the pick-up head with particular"emphasis upon the pick-up or stripper needle mechanism.

Referring in the first instance to Fig. 1, a cabinet is provided whichhouses the claimed mechanism. An opening 12 is provided in the frontwall of said cabinet through which soiled wiping cloths may be insertedtherein. A second opening 14' is provided in the front wall of saidcabinet through which clean wiping cloths are dispensed. Rejected soiledwiping cloths may also be thrown out of the machine through said opening14 or a special opening may be provided for that purpose. Anotherpossibility is topermit the rejected cloths todrop into bin 16 whereinthe accepted soiled cloths are collected. This bin might be made in theform of a drawer which may be pulled out of the cabinet in order to getat the soiled cloths or it may constitute a stationary part of thecabinet with a door rendering its contents accessible. A door 18 may beprovided in a side wall of the cabinet to provide access to theplatforms 20 on which the clean cloths are stacked. and it may alsoprovide access to the pick-up mechanism and other mechanical parts ofthe machine.

In the present embodiment of the invention, there are four platforms. 20and they are arranged substantially as shown in Fig. 2 but it must berepeated that both the number of these platforms and their arrangementmay be varied as desired. These platforms are fixedly secured to theframework of the cabinet and they occupy a common horizontal plane. Someof the framework supporting these platforms is indicated in Fig. 6 bythe reference numeral 22. In the use of this machine, clean wipingcloths are piled in equal piles or stacks upon these platforms but themachine will function substantially as well when the stacks are ofuneven height, within reasonable limitations.

Extending centrally of the cabinet is a vertical shaft 24 which ismounted in bearings 26 and 28 respectively, bearing 26 being supportedon frame member 30 and bearing 28 being secured to a bracket 32which isattached to the top of the cabinet. A block 34 is mounted'on shaft 24and said block is provided with a bearing or bushing 36 which enablessaid block to move vertically on shaft 24 or rotatably around it. A pairof arms 38 are pivotally secured to block 34 by means of screws 40 orother suitable means. These screws extend along a common horizontal linetransversely of vertical shaft 24 and consequently thepivotal movementof arms 38 is about a horizontal axis.

An arm 42 extends between the two arms 38 and may be secured thereto orintegral therewith. For the purposes of this the present description,arms 38 and 42 will be considered as constituting a single pivotallymounted arm and it will shortly be seen that it is this arm whichcarries the pick-up head. Secured to elements 38 of said combination armis a pair of bars 44; bolts 46 being used to secure said'bars to saidarm. It will be noted that these bars 44 are bent outwardly to by-passblock 34. andshaft 24 andthey extend behind said block and shaftdiametrically opposite arm 38, 42. A block 48 is secured to the bars 44and a rod 50 is secured to said block. At the far end of rod 50-is aweight 52 which serves as a counter-weight to counter-balance thepick-up head.

The pick-up head includes a drive mechanism which enables to travel in acircular path from one stack of wiping cloths to another. This drivemechanism includes a cog-wheel 60. mountedon a shaft 62 of motor 64,said motorhaving a speed reduction gear box of conventionalconstruction. It will be noted that the motor is supportedadjacent;the,outer. end of arm 38, 42v and that the cogwheel rides on acircular perforated track 66. Said track is supported by means ofbrackets 68 and blocks 70 on a supporting framework 72 mounted onupright supports 74. The track is circular in plan view as viewed inFig. 2 but it will be seen in Fig. 3 that it dips and rises at variousintervals.

Specifically, the track dips adjacent a pile of wiping cloths to enablethe pick-up mechanism to engage the topmost cloth. in said pile. Thereis asimilar dip for each. of the other piles of wiping cloths and thereis a corresponding rise between such dips. This not only assists thepick-up mechanism to do its work in picking up the topmost cloths, butit also helps prevent it from engaging. cloths: other than the ones.which are scheduled for removal from. their respective stacks.

When the motor is energized, the cog-wheel is caused to rotate and tomove the entire pick-up mechanism in a circular path with its severaldips and rises. A single revolution of the pick-up head should resultin, the dispensing of four wiping cloths.

Motor 64 derives its current through wipers which engage contact ring orrings 82. It. will be observed that a plate 84 supports the wipers onblock 34 and contact ring 82 is supported on posts 86 mounted on a block88. Conductors 90 and 92 lead from block 88to a suitable source ofelectric current and it is these conductors which conduct current tocontact ring or rings 82 and wipers 80. It will now be noted in- Fig, 3that framework 72 is secured at its inner ends to block 88 whichfunctions in the manner of a hub, said framework 72 functioning in themanner of spokes or arms radiating from said hub, and the circular track66 constituting a peripheral ring to which the outer ends of said spokesor arms aresecured.

The entire mechanism thus far described, that is, the pivoted arm 38, 42with its pick-up head and cog-wheel drive, and the circular track withits supporting framework, is vertically movable from a position directlyon top of the stacks of Wiping cloths to an elevated position asuflicient distance above said stacks to render it possible to replenishthe supply of Wiping cloths therein. Said mechanism is also movable indownward direction, not only to meet the stacks of cloths, but also todescend to the platforms 20 as the stacks are reduced in height by theremoval ofthe cloths which comprise, them. A cable is secured at one endto. said entire assembly and, at its opposite endit issecured to acounterweight 102. Between its two ends it extends across apair ofpulleys 104 and 106 which are situated at the top of the cabinet, asshown in Fig.6. A handle 108' is secured to the cable at a convenientheightand it may be grasped by hand to move the cable in eitherdirection, depending. upon whether it is desiredto elevate. or lowersaid assembly. The assembly is, of course, heavier than thecounterweightand a catch maybe providedto engage the cable or handleIDS-when it is desired-to support said assembly in elevated position.

Referring now. to the pick-up head, it will be observed that it ismounted ona bracket 110-which is secured to pick-up arm 38; 42exteriorly of the circular track 66. The pick-up head comprises a block112'which is secured 'by screws 114 to bracket 110; The forward portionof block- 112 curves upwardly to'forma shoe 116. A hole 118 is isformed'in said block 112 at an-inclined'angle relative to thehorizontal. Mounted in said-hole 118is a plunger 120 which islongitudinally slidable'th'erein. A compression spring 122 engages saidplunger andurges it forwardly, that is, leftwardly and downwardly asviewed in Fig. 13.

A pick-up orstripper needle projects forwardly and axially of plunger120and its pointprojects through ahole 132 in the shoe 116 of block 112.It is this needle which engages the wiping cloths and strips them'fromtheir respective piles or stacks on' platforms 20. It will be observed'in Figs. 10 and"12 that bracket 110 is vertically adjustable by meansof screws 134 extending through vertically extending slot 136 in saidbracket 110. It is by means of these screws that said bracket isattached to the pick-up arm. This vertical adjustment renders itpossible to adjust the position of the pick-up or stripper needlerelative to the wiping cloths.

It will now be observed in Figs. 2 and 4 that bifurcated plates 140 aresecured by means of brackets 142 to the underside of circular track 66.These bifurcated plates are situated adjacent and above the severalplatforms 20, there being one such plate for each platform. When theentire pick-up assembly rests upon the wiping cloths, it does so bymeans of these bifurcated plates. In other words, these bifurcatedplates support the weight of the entire assembly (over and above theweight of the counter-weight 102) upon the piles or stacks of wipingcloths. In the nature of things, the two arms of each bifurcated platebear down upon the wiping cloths and cause the cloths to bulge upwardlythrough the space between said arms. The pick-up needle is so situatedon the pick-up head that it is directed into engagement with thisupwardly bulging portion of the cloths. Since it is only the topmostcloth which is immediately affected at any one time, it is this clothwhich the pick-up needle engages and strips from the pile while the armsof the bifurcated plate retain the remaining cloths in place.

A single wiping cloth is now supported by the pick-up needle and iscarried forwardly as the pick-up arm continues to travel toward the nextpile or stack of wiping cloths. It will now be seen that projectinglaterally from plunger 120 is a pin 150 which may best be seen in Figs.9, 10, 12 and 13. This pin projects through an elongated slot 152 inblock 112. Secured to the circular track 66 is a plurality of downwardlyextending pin engaging members 154. These members are secured by meansof screws 156 to said track. It will be observed that there is one suchpin engaging member 154 for each pile of wiping cloths and that it issituated a short distance in front of bifurcated plate 140. When thepick-up head is moved to a position adjacent any one of thesepin-engaging members 154, pin 150 in said pick-up head engages saidmember 154 and is caused to retract plunger 120 and needle 130 againstthe action of spring 122. The needle is thereby withdrawn from thewiping cloth which it had stripped off the previous pile of cloths andsaid wiping cloth is now free to drop through chute 160 and outletopening 14.

In Fig. 1 a bundle of five wiping cloths 162 is shown in the outletopening 14. This is a purely illustrative showing and it is intended toindicate that the wiping cloths may be stacked in bundles of five or inbundles of any other number of cloths so that when the uppermost clothin a particle bundle is engaged by the pickup-needle, the entire bundlewill be stripped from the stack and deposited into the chute. On theother hand, the cloths may be stacked individually so that only a singlecloth will be removed at any one time.

In this connection, two aspects of the mechanism may be mentioned. Thefirst is that the pin-engaging member 154 may be provided with a camface 164. It is this part of said member that engages the pin 150 andcauses said pin to ride upwardly in slot 152 in order to retract thepick-up or stripper needle. But once said pin disengages the cam face164, spring 122 projects the plunger 120 and needle 130 forwardly onceagain in readiness for the succeeding pick-up operation. In order toinsure against carrying the stripped cloth into the succeeding pile ofcloths, the yoke portion of each bifurcated plate 140 is disposed inadvance of its particular pile of cloths so as to engage the strippedcloth and prevent it from being carried any further. The yoke of thebifurcated plate simply functions, in such case, as a barrier whichcatches the stripped cloth and prevents it from moving forwardly beyondthat particular point. It may be found desirable to provide anotherbarrier, independently of said bifurcated plate, and positioned adjacentthe pin-engaging member 154 so as to engage the cloth the moment saidcloth is released from the pick-up needle.

It will now be observed that a vertical chute 170 is provided in onecorner of the cabinet and that opening 12 communicates therewith. Thelower end of chute 170 projects below one of the walls of chute and itis open to a third chute 172. This third chute is directed to rotatablymounted blades 174 which are situated at the lower end of shaft 24.These blades are mounted for rotary movement in a horizontal plane'andabout a vertical axis which coincides with the axis of said shaft. Whena soiled cloth is dropped through opening 12, it falls through chute anddown along chute 172 and into engagement with blades 174. It is therotary action of these blades which tends to disburse the'soiled clothsand to distribute them uniformly throughout the collect ing bin 16.These blades also help to pack the soiled cloths down so as to enablethe bin to receive as many soiled cloths as possible.

At the upper end of vertical chute 170 a Geiger counter 176 may beprovided. This Geiger counter may be connected in conventional manner toa microswitch which is connected through wipers 80 and contact ring orrings 82 to the electric motor 64 which drives the pick-up arm. It isonly when a radioactive wiping cloth is deposited into the cabinetthrough opening 12 that the Geiger counter is excited. Depending uponhow the Geiger counter is set, and this is done by purely conventionalmeans, the Geiger counter may actuate the microswitch when a singleradioactive cloth is encountered or after a given number of such clothsare encountered. In any case, this closes the microswitch and therebyclose-s the circuit to the motor causing said motor to operate. Again,depending upon how the circuit is set up, and this may also be done byconventional means, the motor will continue to function until wipingcloths are stripped from one or any given number of stacks of cloths andthereupon the circuit will break and await further action by the Geigercounter as additional soiled radioactive cloths are deposited into thecabinet.

The foregoing is illustrative of preferred forms of this invention andit will be understood that these forms may be modified and other formsmay be provided within the broad spirit of the invention and the broadscope of the claims.

I claim:

1. A wiping cloth dispensing machine of the character described,comprising a plurality of platforms, each adapted to support a pile ofwiping cloths, a pick-up arm mounted for movement across the top of eachpile of cloths, and a stripper needle carried by said pick-up arm forengagement with the uppermost cloth in each pile, whereby said cloth isstripped from the pile as the pick-up arm moves across it, saidplatforms being arranged at selected points along a circular line, acircular track being provided in concentric relation to said circularline, bearing plates secured to the said track and supporting it uponthe piles of wiping cloths, said pick-up arm being supported by saidtrack and being movable in a circular path along said track to enablethe stripper needle to strip the wiping cloths from the several piles inthe order in which said piles are encountered by the pick-up arm and itssaid stripper needle, said bearing plates being bifurcated, forming apair of spaced arms joined at one end by a yoke, the pressure of saidarms upon the wiping cloths under the weight of the track and pick-uparm causing the uppermost wiping cloth to bulge upwardly in the spacebetween said arms, the stripper needle being positioned on the pick-uparm to engage said upwardly bulging wiping cloth and to strip it off itspile without disturbing the Wiping cloths below it.

2. A wiping cloth dispensing machine of the character described,comprising a plurality of platforms, each adapted to support a pile ofwiping cloths, a pick-up arm mounted for movement across the top of eachpile of cloths, and a stripper needle carried by said pick-up arm forengagement with the uppermost cloth in eachpile, whereby said cloth isstripped from the pile as the pick-up arm moves across it, saidplatforms being arranged at selected points along a Circular line, acircular track being provided in concentric relation to' said circularline, bearing plates secured to the said track and supporting it uponthe piles of wiping cloths, said'pick-up arm being supported by saidtrack and being movable in a circular path along said track to enablethe stripper needle to strip the, wiping cloths from the several pilesin the order in whichsaid piles are encountered by the pick-up arm andits said stripper needle, said pick-up amr including a curved shoe whichis engageable with the uppermost wiping cloths in the several piles ofwiping cloths to facilitate movement of said pick-up arm, across saidwiping cloths, said shipper needle being slidably supported by said shoeand being spring-urged in forward direction for engagement with saiduppermost wiping cloths, a pin being connected to said stripper needleand being movable therewith in forward direction under said springaction and being movable therewith in rearward direction against saidspring action, the point of said stripper needle projecting forwardlyfrom said shoe for engagement with the wiping cloths when said stripperneedle is in its forward position, the point of said stripper needlebeing retracted into said shoe when said stripper needle is in its rearposition, and a pin-engaging member situated in the path of said pin aselected distance beyond each pile of wiping cloths, whereby thestripper needle is caused to release the wiping cloths 'which it stripsfrom said piles when said pin engages said pin-engaging members and iscaused to retract the stripper needle into the shoe.

3. A wiping cloth dispensing machine of the character described,comprisinga plurality of platforms, each adapted to support a pile ofwiping cloths, a pick-up arm mounted for movement across the top of eachpile of cloths, and a stripper needle carried by said pick-up arm forengagement with the uppermost cloth in each pile, whereby said cloth isstripped from the pile as the pick-up arm moves across it, saidplatforms being arranged at selected points along a circular line, acircular track being providedin concentric relation to said circularline, bearing plates secured to the said track and supporting it uponthe piles of wiping cloths, said pick-up arm being supported by saidtrack and being movable in a circular path along said track to enablethe stripper needle to strip the wiping cloths from the several piles inthe order in which said piles are encountered by the pick-up arm and itssaid stripper needle, said circular track being provided with downwardlyextending portions at the approach to each pile of wiping cloths andwith upwardly extending portions immediately thereafter, the pick-up armbeing vertically movable to move downwardly along said downwardlyextending track portions to bring the stripper needle into engagementwith the uppermost wiping cloths in said piles, and to move upwardlyalong said upwardly extending track portions to elevate the stripperneedle after it has engaged the uppermost Wiping cloths in said piles toavoid engagement with the wiping cloths immediately below said uppermostcloths.

References. Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,572,121 Dosberg Oct. 23, 1951 2,609,928 Doust Sept. 9, 1952 2,653,693Dosberg Sept. 29, 1953

